CMOS image sensor having indented photodiode structure

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a CMOS image sensor, and an associated method of formation. In some embodiments, the CMOS image sensor comprises a floating diffusion region disposed at one side of a transfer gate within a substrate and a photo detecting column disposed at the other side of the transfer gate opposing to the floating diffusion region within the substrate. The photo detecting column comprises a doped sensing layer with a doping type opposite to that of the substrate. The photo detecting column and the substrate are in contact with each other at a junction interface comprising one or more recessed portions. By forming the junction interface with recessed portions, the junction interface is enlarged compared to a previous p-n junction interface without recessed portions, and thus a full well capacity of the photodiode structure is improved.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A CMOS image sensor, comprising:
 a substrate with a first doping type; 
 a transfer gate disposed on a front-side of the substrate and separated from the substrate by a gate dielectric; 
 a floating diffusion region with a second doping type disposed at one side of the transfer gate within the substrate; and 
 a photo detecting column disposed at another side of the transfer gate opposite to the floating diffusion region within the substrate, the photo detecting column comprising a doped sensing layer with the second doping type; 
 wherein the photo detecting column and the substrate are in contact with each other at a junction interface and configured as a photodiode structure to convert radiation that enters the substrate into an electrical signal; and 
 wherein the junction interface comprises one or more recessed portions extending from a top surface of the substrate on the front-side to a bottom surface of the photo detecting column. 
 
     
     
       2. The CMOS image sensor of  claim 1 , wherein the photo detecting column further comprises a pinning layer with the first doping type disposed directly on the doped sensing layer. 
     
     
       3. The CMOS image sensor of  claim 2 , wherein the pinning layer has a sidewall surface vertically aligned with that of the doped sensing layer. 
     
     
       4. The CMOS image sensor of  claim 2 ,
 wherein the photo detecting column further comprises a deep doped layer with the second doping type disposed directly under the doped sensing layer; and 
 wherein the deep doped layer has a doping concentration smaller than that of the doped sensing layer. 
 
     
     
       5. The CMOS image sensor of  claim 4 , wherein the deep doped layer has a sidewall surface vertically aligned with that of the doped sensing layer. 
     
     
       6. The CMOS image sensor of  claim 4 , wherein the deep doped layer has a thickness about two times greater than that of the doped sensing layer. 
     
     
       7. The CMOS image sensor of  claim 1 , wherein the junction interface comprises a first recessed portion and a second recessed portion that are symmetrically distributed along an extended line of centers of the transfer gate and the floating diffusion region. 
     
     
       8. The CMOS image sensor of  claim 7 , wherein the first recessed portion and the second recessed portion are spaced apart from one another. 
     
     
       9. The CMOS image sensor of  claim 1 , wherein a top surface of the photo detecting column has a concave polygon shape. 
     
     
       10. The CMOS image sensor of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a shallow trench isolation (STI) structure disposed between adjacent pixel regions from the front-side of the substrate to a position within the substrate and surrounding the photo detecting column. 
 
     
     
       11. The CMOS image sensor of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a back-end-of-the-line (BEOL) metallization stack arranged on the front-side of the substrate and comprising a plurality of metal interconnect layers arranged within one or more inter-level dielectric layers. 
 
     
     
       12. The CMOS image sensor of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a color filter disposed on a back-side of the substrate opposite to the front-side, the color filter being arranged within a grid structure and overlying the photo detecting column. 
 
     
     
       13. A CMOS image sensor, comprising:
 a substrate with a first doping type; and 
 a pixel array comprising a plurality of pixels, each of the pixels comprising a transfer gate disposed on a front-side of the substrate and a photo detecting column with a second doping type disposed within the substrate at one side of the transfer gate opposing to a floating diffusion region with the second doping type; 
 wherein the photo detecting column and the substrate are in contact with each other at a junction interface and configured as a photodiode structure to convert radiation that enters the substrate into an electrical signal; and 
 wherein the junction interface comprises recessed portions that are discrete from one another and symmetrically distributed along an extended line of centers of the transfer gate and the floating diffusion region. 
 
     
     
       14. The CMOS image sensor of  claim 13 , wherein the pixel array comprises four pixels arranged in rows and columns as a 2×2 array, including a first sensing pixel and a second sensing pixel arranged in a first row and a third sensing pixel and a fourth sensing pixel arranged in a second row;
 wherein a first photo detecting column and a first transfer gate of the first sensing pixel and a third photo detecting column and a third transfer gate of the third sensing pixel are symmetric along a separation line separating the first sensing pixel and the third sensing pixel; and 
 wherein a second photo detecting column and a second transfer gate of the second sensing pixel and a fourth photo detecting column and a fourth transfer gate of the fourth sensing pixel are symmetric along a separation line separating the second sensing pixel and the fourth sensing pixel. 
 
     
     
       15. The CMOS image sensor of  claim 14 , wherein the first, second, third and fourth sensing pixels share a same floating diffusion region. 
     
     
       16. The CMOS image sensor of  claim 15 ,
 wherein the first photo detecting column and the first transfer gate of the first sensing pixel and the second photo detecting column and the second transfer gate of the second sensing pixel are symmetric along a separation line separating the first sensing pixel and the second sensing pixel; and 
 wherein the third photo detecting column and the third transfer gate of the third sensing pixel and the fourth photo detecting column and the fourth transfer gate of the fourth sensing pixel and are symmetric along a separation line separating the third sensing pixel and the fourth sensing pixel. 
 
     
     
       17. The CMOS image sensor of  claim 14 , wherein the first sensing pixel and the third sensing pixel share a first floating diffusion region, and the second sensing pixel and the fourth sensing pixel share a second floating diffusion region. 
     
     
       18. The CMOS image sensor of  claim 13 , wherein a top surface of the photo detecting column has a concave polygon shape. 
     
     
       19. The CMOS image sensor of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 a back-end-of-the-line (BEOL) metallization stack arranged on the front-side of the substrate and comprising a plurality of metal interconnect layers arranged within one or more inter-level dielectric layers; and 
 a color filter disposed on a back-side of the substrate opposite to the front-side, the color filter being arranged within a grid structure and overlying the photo detecting column. 
 
     
     
       20. An image sensor, comprising:
 a substrate with a first doping type and a transfer gate disposed over the substrate; 
 a floating diffusion region disposed within the substrate on one side of the transfer gate; and 
 a photo detecting column disposed within the substrate on another side of the transfer gate opposite to the floating diffusion region; 
 wherein the photo detecting column has a circumference with recessed portions extending vertically from top to bottom that are symmetrically distributed along an extended line of centers of the transfer gate and the floating diffusion region.